How to get a C-36 - Plumbing Contractor license in California

Who needs a C-36 - Plumbing Contractor license

Water supply and fluid-waste disposal in all structures: waste removal and on-site waste disposal systems, gas and liquid piping (incl. medical gases), gas appliances and flues (not forced warm air units), water/gas piping from the meter, water heaters (incl. solar), and maintenance of backflow preventers, gas earthquake valves and similar devices.¹

Exemptions and dollar thresholds:

• No license is needed for work under $1,000 in total (labor, materials and all other items) that needs no building permit; CSLB adds that no employee labor may be used. Splitting a larger job to fall under $1,000 does not qualify.⁸
• Owner-builders improving their own property, doing the work themselves or with their own wage employees, may be exempt.⁸
• Wage employees without control over the work may be exempt.⁸

Requirements for a C-36 - Plumbing Contractor license

Minimum age

18 years old⁸

Experience

At least 4 years²
Four years of journey-level, foreman, supervisor, contractor or owner-builder experience in plumbing within the last 10 years; up to three years may be credited for training, apprenticeship or education.²
Supervision: Experience must be verified by a qualified person with firsthand knowledge.²
Substitute: Apprenticeship completion certificate: up to three years of credit.²
Substitute: "Journeyman" for this rule means a fully qualified worker who can work unsupervised, or an apprenticeship graduate.¹

Exam

Law and Business examination³
Given by: PSI Exams⁹
Passing score: CSLB does not publish a fixed score on these pages; the required percentage is given at the test site.³
When you can take it: After CSLB accepts the application.¹⁰
Retakes: Wait 21 calendar days after a failed attempt, then pay and reschedule with PSI, within the 18-month window.⁹
Exam waived: The registrar may waive the exam for personnel of record for five of the last seven years in the same classification, for family members continuing a family business, and for certain long-term employees of a corporation or LLC replacing its qualifier. No exam is needed if, within five years, the qualifier passed the exam for the same classification or served as qualifier for a license in good standing in it.¹

Exam

C-36 Plumbing trade examination¹¹
Given by: PSI⁹
Study guide edition: for exams scheduled on or after March 1, 2025; references include the 2025 California Plumbing Code.¹¹
Retakes: Retake after 21 calendar days, before the 18-month void date.⁹
Time limit: 18 months (application void date).⁹

Background check

Background check required⁴
Fingerprints required⁴
Fingerprints are compared with California DOJ and FBI records; some applications go to formal investigation.⁴

Surety bond

$25,000¹ (All active licenses; bond amount, not a premium; a $25,000 cashier's check may be filed instead)

Insurance

Workers’ compensation certificate, or an exemption if there are no employees (not available to C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 holders). From January 1, 2028, the no-employee exemption is limited to joint ventures.¹²

Insurance

LLCs need liability insurance of at least $1 million for five or fewer personnel of record, plus $100,000 for each additional person, up to $5 million.¹³

Business requirements

Every license needs a qualifying individual who meets the experience and exam requirements.⁸

Business requirements

A Responsible Managing Employee must work for the firm at least 32 hours a week or 80 percent of its operating hours, whichever is less, and cannot qualify another active license.⁸

Business requirements

A $25,000 Bond of Qualifying Individual may be needed for an RME or RMO; an RMO owning 10 percent or more may be exempted.¹²

Business requirements

LLCs also need a $100,000 employee/worker bond.¹³

Business requirements

A person may qualify no more than three firms in any one-year period.⁸

Also required

Each business vehicle must show the contractor name, business address and license number in letters at least 1½ inches high.¹

How much a C-36 - Plumbing Contractor license costs

You pay CSLB (5 fees), PSI Exams (exam retake fee) and Live Scan operator (2 fees).

Each line is a separate charge as the board lists it. The board does not publish a combined total, so none is shown here.

The board's pages we cite do not list the exam fee; check it with the exam provider, PSI Exams⁹, when you schedule.

How to apply

1. Confirm the classification and that the qualifying individual has four verifiable years of experience.⁸
2. Submit the Application for Original Contractor License, the Certification of Work Experience and the $450 fee. Do not send a bond or the initial license fee yet. Sole owners can apply online.¹⁴ Form (PDF, cslb.ca.gov)¹⁵
3. After acceptance, get fingerprinted by Live Scan for each person listed; send CSLB its copy within 90 days of receiving the packet.⁴
4. Schedule and pay for the exams with PSI, and pass them within 18 months.¹⁰
5. After passing, send what the bond and fee letter lists: initial license fee, $25,000 bond, asbestos open book exam, and workers’ compensation certificate or exemption.¹²
6. CSLB issues the license; the wall certificate and pocket card arrive about a week later.¹²

Apply online

cslb.ca.gov¹⁶

Application form

Form (PDF, cslb.ca.gov)¹⁵

Renewal and continuing education

How often

Every 2 years¹

When it expires

Expires two years from the last day of the month of issue. Active renewals last two years, inactive renewals four.¹²

Renewal fee

$450⁶ (Active, sole owner; non-sole owner is $700)

Late renewal

Late renewal fee: $675¹ (active, sole owner, renewed after expiration)
Late renewal fee: $1,050⁶ (active, non-sole owner, renewed after expiration)
Late renewal fee: $450⁶ (inactive, sole owner, after expiration)
Late renewal fee: $750⁶ (inactive, non-sole owner, after expiration)

If it expires

An expired license can be renewed within five years with the delinquency fee, but the holder is unlicensed during the gap. After five years, a new application is required.¹

Renew online

cslb.ca.gov¹⁷

Moving to California with a license from another state

These are the routes CSLB publishes for the C-36 - Plumbing Contractor license.

No state license for journeyman plumbers

California does not issue a state license for journeyman plumbers.⁵

The official wording

“…this chapter does not apply to any person who engages in the activi- ties herein regulated as an employee who receives wages as his or her sole compensation, does not customarily engage in an independently established business…”⁵

Contractors State License Board

City and county rules

In the largest cities read, plumbing permits go only to state-licensed contractors (C-36 and certain other classes) or to property owners; no city plumber license was found.¹⁹

Check a license or report a problem

Before you hire a plumber in California, you can confirm the license is current on the board's own search. Every board we cover in California is on the California license lookup page.

Look up a license

cslb.ca.gov²¹

File a complaint

cslb.ca.gov²²

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7057
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7048
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7065
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7065.1
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7065.4
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7068
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7069
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7071.6
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7125
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7137
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7138
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7140
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7141
• Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 832.36
• Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7029.5
• Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 825

Common questions

Plumber licenses in other states

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